NavList:

From: Hewitt Schlereth <hhew36@gmail.com>
Subject: [NavList 6547] Re: Can someone identify this
To: NavList@fer3.com
Date: Friday, November 14, 2008, 9:55 AM

I see by the brass plate in one of the photos the instrument was made
in Belfontaine Ohio a place near to my heart: I learned to swim at a
YMCA there in 1946. So let me add $25 to the fund to purchase this
fascinating device.

BTW and FWIW, the general look of the thing reminds me of a device
that appeared in earlier editions of Bowditch (c. 1982?)  in their
listing of sight reduction methods.  As I recall the Bowditch
description had a picture of the device which appeared to be made of
three white plastic plates that could be set to make a miniature
navigational triangle. It looked like you set the two vertical plates
to LHA and then aligned a third lateral plate with declination on one
of the vertical plates and latitude on the other and read Hc from the
lateral plate.

Hewitt Schlereth

On 11/14/08, George Huxtable <george@hux.me.uk> wrote:
>
>  Bill Morris, as "Engineer", wrote, about the instrument we have
been
>  discussing-
>
>  =================
>
>  From: "engineer" <engineer@clear.net.nz>
>  To: "NavList" <NavList@fer3.com>
>  Sent: Friday, November 14, 2008 2:19 AM
>  Subject: [NavList 6542] Re: Can someone identify this
>
>
>
>
>  I'm interested in this item too and planned to bid on it. If I won
the
>  bidding, I would take it apart, service it and put it together again
>  in a restored state. Then I would post detailed labelled photographs
>  for others to see. When tired of it, I would offer it to a museum for
>  what it cost me. I agree it would be a pity for it to rest in private
>  hands, undescribed and gathering dust. On the other hand, why should
>  North America have all the luck? People in out-of-the way places love
>  instruments too.
>
>  Bill.
>
>
> ====================
>
>  Comment from George-
>
>  Well, if Bill Morris were to succeed in a bid, that would meet most of my
>  own wishes, and I suspect those of several other listmembers, for the
future
>  of this special instrument.
>
>  It would be rescued from locking away in a hidden private collection; in
the
>  end it would end up in a public museum; and in the interim it would be
>  examined for us by a real expert. The only snag is that of Bill's
location,
>  in a particularly isolated corner of New Zealand, which would,
>  unfortunately, require long-distance transporting of the item, and put it
>  out of range of personal inspection of anyone other than Bill.
>
>  Perhaps it would help if I pass on some details about Bill Morris, who
I've
>  got to know quite well, by email, over recent months. Originally from
>  Britain, for many years he has been a doctor in rural New Zealand, having
>  retired now to an even more isolated spot, where he indulges in precision
>  engineering, from a well-equipped workshop. Although not a navigator
>  himself, he has a particular interest is in sextants, and he claims to
have
>  restored altogether 28 such instruments of a wide range of types,
modern.and
>  less-modern, not on a profit-making basis but as a hobby.
>
>  He is presently finishing-off a book (intended for distribution by CD
rather
>  than print) on the "intimate anatomy of the sextant". I've
come in because
>  he has asked me to scan it for any obvious errors, so I have been
privileged
>  to see a preview. Looking at the care he devotes to detailed explanation
and
>  description, illustrated by well-angled and notated colour photos and
>  diagrams, I would have no hesitation in entrusting to him this Fix Finder
>  for a careful analysis, and hope that he would share his findings with us
as
>  he proceeds, before eventually passing it to a museum.
>
>  So, if Bill is prepared to act on our behalf, as well as his own, in
>  bidding, I restate my offer of sharing (to a maximum of $100) in the
total
>  cost, if his bid succeeds, to give him some encouragement. Other members
>  have expressed similar sentiments. The more that join in, the higher the
>  chance of his success, and the less the burden will become on each of us.
>
>  One or two things need to be kept in mind here.
>
>  There may well be a flurry of last-minute bids and the price may go well
>  above its present $102.50. Indeed, the seller has set a reserve price,
which
>  we have no way of knowing, that has not yet been met.
>
>  Although list members may contribute a "share" in the total
cost, that would
>  not be expected to result in any shared ownership of the item, which
would
>  become the sole property of the bidder. The whole operation would have to
>  work on the basis of gentlemanly trust between all involved.
>
>  If Bill Morris confirms his intention to bid on that basis, I would hope
>  that other list members might show restraint in any bidding of their own.
>  However, if any list member gets overcome by the lust to possess, perhaps
he
>  might inform Bill beforehand, and share his technical findings with us
>  afterwards.
>
>  George.
>
>  For those that have yet to look up this item on ebay, it's at-
>
>
>
>
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ASTRONOMIC-CALCULATOR-SEXTANT-theodolite_W0QQitemZ190265697439QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item190265697439&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1215%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318
>
>
> and to see the original 1950 patent, look up Google Patents 2,519,532.
>
>  contact George Huxtable, now at george@hux.me.uk
>
> or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
>  or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
>
>
>
>  >
>